Hide and Search
by XxSparxxX
Summary: Spyro and Cynder wake up to peace and tranquility but that isn't what's brewing in the distance. Broken tribes, forgotten cities, lost powers all in a nutshell. Can Spyro and Cynder retrieve what is lost and come back in one peace? Will the Realms be threatened by this strange tribe?


The fresh smell of earth and fresh grass lingers in my nose as my eyes struggle to open from a long slumber. The woods surround me in every direction with the green fauna flourishing all around. My eyes widen as I remember the events that transpired. Facing Malefor in his lair in the Burned Lands, defeating him with Cynder by his side. Sacrificing himself to save the world. _I love you. _Spyro's eyes snap open. _Cynder! _He spins around in his search the starch black dragoness and calms down as he spots her only a few feet away. _Thank the ancestors. _He thought, relieved at Cynder being there.

Spyro sat back down, thinking. Memories of fear and realization hit him like a wreaking ball. I saved the world, he thought, dumbstruck. An image flooded into his head. _The ancestors pulling Malefor down into the core of the earth as it came crumbling down. He had succeeded, he thought. But he still could do something. "I know what I have to do" He says as he looks at the ground. "Get out of here Cynder. Go somewhere safe," "I'm not leaving you!" Cynder yells, over the sound of the earth being destroyed. Spyro looks back at her. "Okay," he says. He turns around and looks around at the earth. He suddenly looks up and floats of the ground and __emits__ a burst of purple light. "I love you."_

Spyro turns his head towards the comatose dragoness, sleeping on the soft, green grass. _Really? _Spyro had always had a strong connection or pull towards Cynder put he never knew what it was. He never felt anything like it. It felt great to know that she felt the same way. Spyro slowly stood up, his joints slowly creaking out of disuse. He lumbered over to the dragoness and lied down beside her. "Hey," he whispered. "Are you okay?" At first she didn't move which switched his imagination into overdrive. _What if she's dead? _Spyro poked her, clearly horrified at the thought but his doubts were dashed as she brushed away his paw as he went to poke her again.

Spyro sat back down and waited for her to awake at her choosing. Her eyes suddenly snapped open. "Spyro!" She yelled. She slammed into him, hugging him on the ground. Spyro, pinned under the dragoness was stunned. _Maybe she really did mean it, _he thought. He gingerly hugged her back, wanting to cherish the memory. She pushed off him and backed away. "You're okay," she says, shying away. "I was more worried about you," He says as he looks at her. This was the first time Spyro really noticed her. Her sleek, curved body was stunning. Her black scales reflected the light like an angel when she walked. _Wow. _She looked around, "Where are we?" she asked. Spyro looked around, it looked like the forests around the Valley of Avalar, but he had to be sure. "Let's go check it out," he beckons as he gets ready for take off. Cynder and Spyro lifted of the ground and soared up through the trees, disturbing birds as they did so. Spyro was correct, they were in the Valley of Avalar.

"Wow," he whispers to himself. He had forgotten how beautiful it was with it's multiple water falls and it's rock pillars rocketing through the air. The river that runs through the valley shone with it's elegance and wonderfulness, and that wasn't the only thing. Spyro couldn't keep Cynder out of his mind. It was hard to **concentrate** on flying when she flew right beside him. She looped through the air in happiness at the thought of being free. Cynder looped back up to fly with Spyro. She was looking at him when she passed over head and she almost fell out of the air. His purple scales shone with brilliance in the evening light. His muscles rippling under his sheet of rugged scales. He had a definite air of a hero.

He turned his head over to her and Cynder realized she was staring and she tried to cover it up with diving once more into a loop over to his side. "Tag!" She yelled as she tapped his side with her paw. Spyro watched her dive away and he took after her smiling the whole way. She constantly evaded his grasp as she commented with: "To slow purple boy?" or "I'm barely trying!". _Oh yeah! _He thought. He dived backwards as she tried to fake him out by flying overhead and tackled her. The were shooting towards the river and dived into it with a big, KER-SPLASH! They both came sputtering to the surface.

"What was that for?" She asked force ably when they crawled out of the river. Spyro looked sheepishly over to her, thinking that he hurt her. "Sorry," he apologized. She continued to look at him angrily before she broke into a playful grin. She leaned in and licked him on the cheek whispering, "You're it," in his ear. Spyro blushed and looked back at her. They stayed that way for a few moments before an observer broke the silence. "Alright you two love birds, let's get moving." Spyro and Cynder both looked back clearly surprised but their eyes widened even more when they saw Hunter kneeling on his spear, with his bow on his back, smiling down at them.

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Light shined into the small cave above the city of Warfang, bringing curious glances from crouched positions. Blinded dragons were emerging from caves all around the mountain. They were gazing up into the blue sky and out into the surrounding forests. Among the dragons of young and old there was a small glowing, yellow dragonfly. "He did it," said Sparx in bewilderment, "The big purple lug actually did it!" Yelled Sparx in an increasing intensity.

He flew out of the cave, over the heads of dazed dragons, as fast as he could. He zoomed past the Atrium and the Infirmary and over the town square where there were abandoned market tents and shops. He flew past the gardens and flew to the highest turret on the ramparts. Expecting to see Spyro and Cynder returning, he was dismayed to see no dragons in sight. His cheerful demeanor dimming only a shade, he flew back to the mountain to search for the guardians.

He was looking through the buildings when he remembered that all the dragons were emerging from the caves, not the abodes they evacuated from. He turned to speed back to the mountain when he ran into a young earth dragon in the streets, about the age of Spyro. Sparx looked up at him and he grimaced back. "What are you looking at?" He demanded, "Nothing," replied Sparx looking around the mass of the young dragon. "I was just looking for the guardians." He said absentmindedly. "Well stop bugging me," he snarled. Sparx flew away looking back at the hot-headed dragon. "What a jerk!" He said under his breath. His search for the guardians recommenced.

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"Hunter!" Both dragons yelled in unison as they ran into him, holding him in a death grip only old friends can give to each other. "You survived!", "Yes young dragons, as did the village because of you two," he exclaimed, beaming at the two dragons. Spyro beamed back. Hunter looked around at the surrounding area. "It's even more beautiful then before," he sighs, "Ya, it is," said Spyro but he wasn't looking at the landscape. Hunter looked around at the dragons. "Where's Ignitus?" Spyro looked back at him cheerfully until he realized what he had said. Spyro delved once more into his memory vault.

He remembered crossing the Ring of Fire when Ignitus was protecting them in an orb of fire energy. He remembered him saying that he wouldn't be able to hold it any longer. He remembered being thrown to safety and looking back screaming back, 'NOOO!'. He remembered, _Darkspyro_. The feeling of sadness that followed that event was so immense that the wild beast that resided inside of him that only came out in times of great distress and anger. What followed was usually total destruction.

A feeling of sadness washed over him like a tidal wave. He looked up at Hunter and spoke in a raspy, grief-ridden voice, "he isn't coming back." He spoke this as his head turned and looked towards the ground. _I could have saved him! _Yelled a voice in his head. Spyro shrunk in his skin at those words. _You couldn't do a thing. _Said another voice. _He chose that destiny, he chose to save both you and Cynder. _Cynder noticed Spyro's posture and his tone of voice. She was concerned for him on this subject. He still wasn't completely sound on this subject. "There was nothing you could have done Spyro," She said, looking at him as if he would hurt himself. "What happened?" Asked Hunter. Spyro looked up at the spotted cheetah and relayed the painstaking event of Ignitus's death. Hunter looked at the dragon with sadness and sympathy as Spyro came to an end to his tale. "I'm sure that was the way he wanted to go out Spyro. He would have wanted to go out helping you then in a cave because you couldn't get across." Hunter looked back down at the young dragons before turning to the direction of his village. He returned his gaze to Spyro with a smile. "Everyone in the village is ecstatic with relief. It would be an honor for your first visit to be with us," he informs. Spyro thought about it. The guardians needed to know they were alive but they did deserve a vacation. "Alright," replied Spyro, "but only for one night." They journeyed through the river and around a bend of trees to see a small village, flourishing with cheetahs. The houses in which they lived in were constructed out of small trees and bamboo. The main floor was off the ground and on stilts, so the only entrance was from a narrow ladder running along the side. Most houses were built in that fashion but there were also small huts along the ground. The cheetahs lifted their heads with a happy expression on their faces. This feeling of happiness only grew when they spotted the purple dragon, although they shied away from the black dragoness, only receiving a suspicious smile.

Cynder watched the expressions of suspicion on the furry faces of the cheetahs. This made her feel like she had never changed. _Why won't they accept me? Can't they see that __I've__ changed? _She thought. _Have I changed? _ This thought troubled her greatly. She felt changed, not only in her appearance but in herself as well. Overall, she was a happier, better person. These thoughts only lead her to the path of remembering what she used to be. When she pictured herself, she saw the horrid, evil dragoness she used to be. She only saw evil when she looked at herself in someone's eyes.

Spyro saw the suspicious glaces and the fake smiles. He looked to Cynder to see a slumped over dragoness looking at the ground. He knew what the crowd was thinking, so he sidestepped over to the dragoness's side. She looked up at him in surprise. The mood of the crowd lifted and they all smiled again. A dark orange cheetah stepped out of one of the grounded huts and looked around he ad t double take when he spied the two dragons being surrounded by his people. _Not in my town._ He thought. He stalked over to the dragon's and cleared his throat loudly over the bustle of the townsfolk. "What are they doing here," he said, injecting sarcasm into the sentence. Hunter stepped in front of the fuming leader and spoke in a solid manner. "They are here as guests of the town Prowless, we can't just throw them out," he replied. "You bet your tail I can!" he says, gesturing towards the dragons. "You know the law!", "The laws are folly, you just don't want a dragon in your town." It was well known that Prowless hated dragons. It wasn't anything personal, it was because of Malefor and what he did. At one time, the cheetahs thrived in the valley. They had towns all over the place as well as a solid city. It wasn't solid enough to defend against Malefor's army though. With city and most of the towns destroyed, they were all forced into one town, clinging to life until now.

Prowless stared at the dragons and considered their fate. "Very well, but one claw outta line," he said this with his finger pointing at Spyro, "and you can find yourself out on the dirt." With this, he stalked back to his hut and drew the curtains."I can see Prowless hasn't changed a bit," sneered Cynder. Spyro looked at her with a perplexed face. "You sound like Sparx,", "Is that supposed to be an insult?" She asked playfully. "I don't know," Spyro says this as he turns his head and looks up towards the sky. His eyes glaze over as he looks into the past. Cynder looks up to him again, Spyro's pained and sorrowful expression fills her with pain. "Stop it," she demands. Spyro looks at her stunned. "Ignitus chose his fate, we couldn't have gone back we were to far in. He intended to save you, now don't start regretting his choice, what would he say about that?" She looks at him with an annoyed, angry face and then relaxed at Spyro's response of "I understand".

His is when they both realized that they were still standing at the gates. Embarrassed that they were discussing the matter right at the front gate they moved further into the calm, humble village. "Thank you, again for saving my life," Spyro looks around, puzzled and confused until he saw the soft, pale yellow cheetah leaning against a hut. "Meadow!" Yells Cynder and she rushes at him and holds him in a fierce embrace. Meadow hugs back, "It's good to see you two again!" "Likewise," Spyro replies to Meadow, overjoyed that the cheetah survived the war. "I'm sure you two are exhausted from your journey, why don't you get some rest," he beckons them into his hut and they enter gratefully.

The hut isn't ram shackled or broken down but it had many collected things on shelves which gave the hut a strange cozy feeling like it was infused with happiness. Meadow hustled about, clearing space for a bedding area for the two dragons. He kindly refused when the dragons asked if he needed assistance, in no time they were looking at a sleeping area big enough for the both of them. He laid blankets and soft pillows of various colors into the fray. The young dragons thanked him gratefully. "Where will you sleep?" Spyro asked, "I'll sleep in one of the spare huts," he informed with a kind smile and with that, he exited the hut, leaving the dragons to themselves.

They looked at each other for a few moments before Spyro spoke up, breaking the silence. "We should probably get some rest if we want to get to Warfang early tomorrow morning," he sighs as he settles into his pillow pile. "I was wondering Spyro," Cynder starts, dragging her index claw in the wood in a circle, "if we could take tomorrow off for ourselves." Spyro looks up to the dragoness, surprised that she had beat him to saying that very sentence. "Sure," he replies, "I would love to. We just have to see if someone can send a message to Warfang though." He says, shakily. With that, the dragons dozed off. Spyro's head was filled with awkward and embarrassing scenarios that could come to life tomorrow. It was not a dreamless sleep.


End file.
